The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for controlling the transfer of information between remote devices across a wide area network. More specifically, the present invention provides an interface which employs standard internet protocols and communication mechanisms to enable communication among disparate devices and systems.
Currently, most property management systems in the hospitality industry employ a dedicated terminal to control each of the various device types in the system. These device types typically include a phone system, an entertainment/movie system, a security system, an environmental and energy management system, an accounting system, a reservation system, etc. Typically, these dedicated terminals each communicate with a central database at the property using client/server or Unix connections.
A significant drawback associated with this paradigm relates to the disparate nature of the communication protocols associated with each of the systems which access the central database. That is, for historical reasons, each of the many systems in a typical hotel has its own unique communication protocol and/or data format. Integrating these systems into a single property management system has become desirable in recent times. However, the problems associated with integrating the many incompatible hotel subsystems are many.
As mentioned above, the current approach is to use dedicated terminals which allow each of the devices or subsystems to access the central database. This requires essentially redundant hardware for each of the property's many systems. In addition, each of the dedicated terminals must have its own unique software interface to facilitate communication with the central database which must be supported by information systems personnel.
Most businesses today (and this is especially true of the hospitality industry) are spending an unacceptable amount of resources attempting to integrate and maintain such systems which takes resources away from their core businesses. Most would like to (and indeed many have) outsourced certain functions to remote infrastructure management sites which manage the functions either remotely or locally (e.g., hosting) via the Internet. However, for industries in which the systems being integrated are characterized by a variety of disparate communication protocols, this approach has been problematic.
It is therefore desirable to provide techniques by which devices and systems having disparate communication protocols and data formats may be more efficiently managed.